Watercolor backgrounds - ideas collection

When viewing photographs, it may sometimes seem that it is almost impossible to display crystalline images on paper. clean water, fresh clear air, unique landscapes of frosty winter.

After going through a bunch of paper sheets and designer cardboard It becomes obvious to the master that the effects listed above cannot be conveyed with anything other than watercolors. And they are available to everyone.

A fully-quality watercolor background in scrapbooking can only be achieved by using a combination of paper for watercolor paints, a brush and watercolor paints of the desired colors.

Important! Brushes should be made of appropriate materials: sponges, mini-mists (or sprayers).

Basics of creating a watercolor background A

First of all, you need to carefully examine the photograph and highlight the prevailing colors in it.

Let's say the colors are blue, brown and turquoise.

Will need plastic bag or a paper file in which you need to place a sheet of paper white.

Then select the required paint color and apply it to the sheet. You can squeeze the paint from the brush with your fingers for greater effect.

Now you should put paper sheet on top, gently press and smooth it out.

A “puddle” of paints forms on its surface.

To get an even more interesting effect, you can tilt the sheet in different sides. At the same time, the paints will begin to spread and mix, forming picturesque stains after drying.

Now you need to dry the paper sheet. If the stain of paint on it turns out to be too pale, you can add the desired paint with a brush and turn the sheet again. The paint will begin to spread over the already formed spot.

Too much dark spot can be diluted with water using a spray bottle. Water will dissolve the paint and make the stain less saturated and dark.

In practice, it will become clear that to obtain a color spot you can use not only the method described above.

To create this watercolor background you will need the following:

• moisten a sheet of paper in the center with a sponge or spray;
• use a brush to add paint of the required colors to the moistened area of ​​the paper sheet;
• rotate the sheet until the required result is obtained;
• in the process of creation too light spots can be diluted with paint, and those that are too dark can be diluted with water;

What is the difference between the spots that were created by the first and second methods?

The spot obtained by the first method has clear boundaries. The edges of the second spot will be blurry. If you need to paint the entire sheet, it is better to use a sponge to completely wet it with water. The paint is then applied in quick strokes or blots on top.

To get the following backgrounds you need:

• choose the appropriate stamp for the page;
• make an impression, add white powder, bake;
• the paint can be applied as indicated in the first method or using a spray gun;
• To get an interesting effect, you need to rotate the sheet, while the paint spreads and mixes.

The techniques described above allow you to create dark outline around the embossed image ( three-dimensional drawing), using watercolor paint. This outline serves as a shadow and creates a three-dimensional effect.

To get this watercolor background, you need to do the following:

• Pour water into the spray bottle, add the required paint to the liquid using a brush. The areas of the sheet of paper on which it is necessary to obtain a background of this color should be moistened with a spray bottle. This must be done carefully to avoid the appearance of puddles (do not spray in the same place several times).
• Similar to the method described in the previous paragraph to dilute paint of a different color. Spray a sheet of paper with it in the required places. It is more convenient to use several sprayers at once.
• Wait until the applied paint dries, add more spray rich color or shade. It is not recommended to rush in this case to avoid puddles on the sheet.

How to straighten a sheet after painting

To do this, you will need film (or several sheets of newspaper) and office paper. Newspaper or film is needed to absorb the ink, and office paper will prevent the newspaper text from reprinting.

The sheet can be straightened by following these steps:

• Place the not completely dry sheet under the press, on which you first place office paper on top with newspaper sheets or film.
• Gently iron the sheet with an iron. If the image was created using the hot embossing technique, it can easily be destroyed.
• If the paint on it has already dried before leveling the sheet, you should lightly moisten it with water on the opposite side before placing it under the press.
• Enough in a radical way is gluing the sheet to the cardboard. To do this, it is better to use a glue stick, which should be used to evenly apply the adhesive base to the sheet. You can also use tape, which is used to glue the sheet along the perimeter and in the center to prevent the appearance of bubbles.

Some subtleties, knowledge of which comes with practice:

• Uniform drying of the sheet can be achieved by completely wetting it with water.
• If you need to make watercolor sheets for an album, it is better to use not too thick watercolor paper (up to 230 g/sq. m) without cotton fibers and other additives. Otherwise, it will be difficult to glue the paper and it may move.
• For simple pages with a small pool of paint, it is better to choose watercolor paper with a high sheet density.

Some tips from master Elena Vinogradova:

1. To avoid incidents when mixing colors of watercolor paints, it is recommended to experiment with this before starting work.
2. For example, blue and yellow colors when mixed will give green, red and yellow will give orange.
3. Before using a combination of other colors, it is better to mix them in a draft and see the result.
4. Small pieces of watercolor paper can serve as rough drafts.
5. That's all the secrets. The main thing is to practice well before starting the main work.

I want to talk about a fashionable design trend - the use of watercolors in scrapbooking. Let's look at various techniques and the resulting result.

Nothing compares to watercolor for its delicacy. Transparency of color and vagueness of shapes give watercolor drawings an airy lightness. But the mobility of this paint makes working with it very difficult and difficult to control. You can use watercolors in scrapbooking without fear of making mistakes. There are a few simple techniques. And all imperfections can easily be turned into advantages.

Watercolor has become a popular trend and is used everywhere from invitations to pages. I've collected a few examples here.

A subtle ombre wash often becomes the backdrop for wedding invitations. Place cards, table numbers, menus, tablecloths and even a cake can be decorated in the same style.

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When working with watercolors, you need to remember about possible deformation of the paper due to moisture and try to use artistic watercolor paper or thick cardboard. You don’t have to be afraid to work on this basis. For example, as on the next page, create your own background with a few strokes of the brush. Such spots can be made by hand, or you can buy a stamp in the shape of strokes of a watercolor brush. Put a fingerprint and you're done. Examples of stamps can be seen below, among links to materials on the topic.

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You can also color outline stamps with watercolors. If the stamp is detailed, you will have to work carefully with a small brush. But sometimes you can even deliberately go beyond the boundaries of the image. The highest class is drawing “from scratch”. And this method is not only for real artists. The main thing is to choose simple form And suitable technique, as on the next postcard.

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Don't you feel like an artist in yourself? Then you can make an imprint of a stamp covered with watercolors. If the surface is pre-moistened with water, the edges will become even more blurred.

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One of the most simple ways to make an inscription on a background of watercolor fill means to use a water-repellent material. There are special rubber compounds for writing, or you can take a white children's wax chalk. After painting and drying the watercolor, the inscription appears, and the remaining chalk can be erased.

Let's also not forget about classic way obtaining a resist effect in scrapbooking - using hot embossing. The image or inscription is applied using a stamp. Watercolor creates the background. If desired, the next step is to remove the embossing by ironing it with a hot iron (technical!) through the paper.

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Since we are talking about a watercolor effect, it is not necessary to use paints. Due to its ability to react with water, Distress Ink (both in pad and marker form) can be used for this effect. I have it on my website.

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You can also notice that web design often uses watercolor backgrounds and strokes obtained special brushes for Photoshop.

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I started painting the background for mine today. big picture for the exhibition, at the same time I decided to film the whole process step by step, because from time to time they ask me how such a background is made, and I answer with pleasure, but why not write everything once and in detail, with pictures?))
So, how to make a background like this:

For the project you will need
1. A glass of water and three brushes - one wide flat, one medium-sized for applying mascara, and the most laying around that you don’t mind - for a watercolor mask.
2. A spray bottle with water. I use an empty bottle of anti-tan spray, but in general any bottle will do, as long as it sprays well.
3.4 Watercolor. Any one that you like or don’t mind. I use White Nights and Chinese Marie's here, but this is a matter of taste and choice. I would not take a child's one of very poor quality - it needs to be juicy and well evenly distributed. To create a background, watercolor can be replaced with gouache or acrylic, but usually it is more difficult to draw on these materials than on watercolors, which tends even with good coverage preserve the quality of the paper on which it is applied.
5. For those who like brighter colored mascara, here I use Winsor & Newton (Vermillion, Peat Brown, Deep Red & Sunshine Yellow).
6. Mask for watercolors - there are different ones - those that remain on the sheet after application, and those that can be removed from the sheet. You don't need the last one, which can be deleted.
7. Plastic film for kitchen needs.

And of course the paper is important, it must be watercolor and thick, because we will be pouring a lot of liquid onto the sheet and generally experimenting with it in every possible way, so plain paper no good.


For this project I chose Arches Cold Pressed Watercolor Paper, 300, 76X54 cm, but before that I made such a background in albums where the paper density was 185 or 200 and they did an excellent job.

So, the process.
1. Lay out a watercolor sheet on larger paper, newspaper or cellophane, spray the sheet with water from a spray bottle and then, using a wide flat brush soaked in water, carefully distribute the liquid over the sheet.
Then type on wet round brush colored ink and spray it onto the sheet. Touch the sheet with the tip of the brush, you will get stars like this:

You can dynamically cut through the air with a brush, creating stripes:


If some place seems too bright to you, or the leaf is dry and a drop of ink is just standing on it, you can spray water on it and around it from a spray bottle. You will get small clouds of paint:


You can smear some places with a wide brush until the ink is absorbed into the sheet and dries - after which it becomes relatively water-insoluble.
By the time you're done with the ink, your sheet will look something like this:

Beauty, isn't it? At this stage, the drawing should be allowed to dry, because the watercolor mask will be applied next.

2. The watercolor mask is made of water-repellent liquid rubber, which, when dried, becomes similar in consistency to rubber cement and can be removed from the sheet, exposing the paper or the layer of paint on which it was applied. In watercolor, it is used to preserve light areas of the background or highlights in paintings, since watercolor is traditionally applied using the method of increasing tone from light to dark, and sometimes it is simply necessary to block out some light area in order to return to it later.
Our chaotic piece uses the mask more to create visual interest and more variety of elements.

The mask is applied to a dry sheet with a brush or its handle; it can also be dripped and sprayed. It is important to mix the mask well before applying, because in a bottle it is usually thinner at the bottom and thicker closer to the neck, where it comes into contact with air. After applying the mask, you need to wash your brush immediately. cold water, otherwise it will glue the pile together. The mask should be left until it dries completely; at the same time, it becomes viscous and silicone to the touch.
My mask changes color as it dries - it goes from almost white to a deep yellow color, but different brands have different characteristics.

3. While the mask is drying, I prepare the watercolor. Normal artists use white palettes, but I fell in love with this cardboard catalog from the exhibition and mix paint on it.
If you do not use watercolor in tubes, but in dry form, as here in my White Nights box, it is advisable to spray the dry watercolor with water from a spray bottle 5 minutes before application - it will absorb the water and become much brighter and more manageable when applied.

4. After the mask has dried, generously wet your flat brush and fill it with paint, apply it over the surface of the sheet with rich strokes, adding water or paint where necessary.
You can leave unpainted areas, mix paints or distribute them separately among areas - everything is in your control))


The sheet was not too watery or dry, the paint should be wet and luscious because this is important for the next step.

5. At this stage we glue plastic film to the wet watercolor sheet. You can wrinkle the film, it’s even more interesting, put it on a sheet and press out the creases.


Attention: when the film is firmly stuck to the sheet, it is advisable not to touch it or move it - it will remove more paint with it. Small changes can be made, but the less you move it before it dries, the better.
After applying the film, you can press it down or leave it as is, you can put a flat sheet with a weight on top, or you can do like I did and go drink tea))


How long you keep the film is up to you. I take it off after 10-15 minutes, but you can wait until it dries completely. The longer, the more contrasting the pattern will be.

6. Remove the film, if necessary, dry the sheet and remove the mask. If the sheet is painted thickly, the mask is sometimes difficult to see, but you can always feel it - it feels rubbery to the touch. I simply remove the mask with clean, dry fingers, rolling it off the sheet, but I'm sure there are more civilized ways.
Here the white spots on the sheet are traces of a previously applied mask.

7. This time it seemed to me that the white drops from the mask were too contrasting and I didn’t quite like it, so I redid some areas - I applied watercolor on top and placed plastic selectively in these places. It is important to make such corrections after the first layer has completely dried - then nothing will be erased, smeared or mixed with each other.

This is what I ended up with:

Details:

8. What else can be done and what next?
You can continue experimenting and enjoy the process. I scratched the wet sheet with a toothpick, sprayed alcohol and added watercolor to it, drew on the dry sheet with a candle, glued the collage to the very bottom layer, rubbed the wet areas with gold foil and sprinkled it with sand, washed the watercolor with tea and painted another layer on top. Each time it turned out something very different and very, very cool.
I use these textures for my drawings.
You can view them if you wish, for example here:



Because watercolor and ink are quite transparent materials, any object drawn on top that is not variegated or transparent acquires additional volume and depth in contrast.
On such a background you can draw with acrylic, gouache, black ink, liners, felt-tip pens, gel pens and pencils.
You can cut this thing into postcards or collages, they turn out very cool things.
You can paste it into an art book, you can make bookmarks, you can hang it on the wall and admire it.

I really hope this is useful to someone.
Your Anya

It is fair to mention that experiments with different techniques I was inspired by the free video tutorials on the website http://www.strathmoreartiststudio.com, which I have already written about several times and remind you that it’s never too late to sign up))

The master class was prepared by:

Hi all! Katya Shudrova is with you and today I will show you a fairly simple and long-standing classic technique - creating a background using watercolors. Watercolor never leaves anyone indifferent and it has appeared in postcards for quite a long time. I also really love this material, but it is not for everyone - it takes skill and practice. However, what we create today is unlikely to fail! So, stock up on materials and get going! Fortunately, we need nothing at all:

• Watercolor paper and cardboard for the base>>>
• Watercolor (any)>>>
• Large brush no less than 8 (it’s better to take a flat one)>>>
• Water in a jar - where would you be without it!
• Pencil, ruler, eraser (if you don’t have faith in the eye) >>>
• Punching machine>>>
• Black ink>>>
• Stamp with the inscription>>>
• Acrylic block>>>
• Sequins >>>
• Roller glue, Glossy Accents or any sequin glue>>>
• Dry wipes (just in case)
• Cutter>>>

We'll start by preparing everything for work: we need paints, a brush, water and cardboard in quick access. I recommend taking paper for watercolors in a larger format than a postcard. I like to create a decorative sheet that is twice the size of what I need. I do this so that at the end of the work, I can choose the most attractive piece and use it.

Next, having selected the shades I need, I spread a generous puddle of paint on the palette and, having thoroughly wetted the brush in it, draw horizontal lines in one stroke. It is important that the brush is saturated, otherwise the stroke will break off in the middle of the work and you will have to start over. Practice first!

I drive all the droplets to one edge (at the end of the stroke), and then either collect them with a napkin, or tilt the sheet towards the beginning of the movement, distributing the pigment along the entire length of the stroke, making it more saturated.

Next, I make a puddle of a different color and do the same. It is important to finish with one color first and only then move on to another. Otherwise, all the stripes may turn out different shades. To make it easier to navigate, you can mark the locations of the stripes with a ruler and pencil before applying paint. Just don’t draw where the paint will be applied, otherwise you won’t be able to erase these lines later. I did it by eye, without preliminary markings, and this is what I ended up with.

Once I'm done and the surface of the sheet is dry (no puddles of paint have disappeared), I smooth it out using a punching machine (in my case a Big Shot). My plates are no longer fresh, so they will leave an unsightly relief if you put a sheet between them. To avoid this, I place a sheet between plates TAB1 and TAB2. Having already placed the cutting plates on top and a couple of sheets of writing paper or cardboard for density, I pass the “sandwich” through the machine 2-3 times.

I crop an even and smooth sheet, choosing the most interesting fragment, in my opinion.